5 Reasons I Quit Facebook

Almost five years ago in May, I made a decision that caused quite a stir in my circle of friends. It was the time when I dumped Facebook. My account was barely two years old then, but nothing would have stopped me from quitting altogether. Let’s make a rundown of reasons that led me to do what most people wouldn’t:

I became critical of other people regardless if they’re my friends. I made my Facebook account way before its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp. You can’t even check in at certain places like you do on Foursquare at the time I had a Facebook account. I became easily annoyed with the littlest things such as those who kept changing their relationship status and profile photo every minute or so.

Couples fighting in public. Roan and I were all of a sudden on people-watch—literally taking tabs on accepted friend requests and people who comment and like your posts. I’d be lying if I tell you we never fought about these, but there were couples who literally took their conflicts on another level. It was like watching a drama series in their ever-changing Facebook banters; similar to the first reason, only worse. Much, much worse. Please keep your personal issues to yourselves.

People posting photo albums one after the other. I’m just not into going through that many photos on a recent trip or venture. By many photos, I mean those hundreds of photos that went straight from their camera to their Facebook photo album. Sorry, but my attention span on such is limited.

Most of my Facebook friends were simply acquaintances. A friend of a friend of another friend isn’t the same as an actual friend. You get the drift?

Suddenly, everyone else, including your immediate family is on Facebook. Thank God Mom didn’t (and never) jumped into the bandwagon because if she did, it would have been up for serious discussion. Dad has a Facebook account to this day, but hardly even opens it unless he read an important personal message from a family or a friend.

This last one was the main reason why I quit Facebook. A not-so-distant relative kept leaving unnecessary comments in my posts that were both irrational and irrelevant. It even came to a point that I told Mom and Dad about that person, and they were annoyed just the same.

A lot of people have asked me why I no longer have Facebook, and I’d often reply with “Because Facebook is evil.” I can’t quite put it, but I think it brings out the worst in people. “What about other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram? Do you think they bring out the best in people?,” you dare ask. I don’t know.

I may be biased, but I guess I learn more on Twitter than everywhere else. It’s my go-to source of breaking news from across the globe above all else, and that’s how I stay in the loop of things. I don’t ogle on Instagram that often either because it’s time-consuming, backtracking photos in my feed since the last time I checked in.

A family friend once reacted on my lack of Facebook account and joked about me having no friends. That statement made me sad—not about myself, but for her. I pity her that she gauges friendship over the number of friends she has on Facebook. Well, ma’am, I do have friends. I don’t have a lot, but I have a few good and reliable ones. Think quality over quantity.

If people start talking me out of staying in touch with friends via Facebook, I give a flat-out reply: there are a lot of other ways to get in touch with them, and Facebook isn’t the only one. I may not have given it much thought at the time I planned on leaving, but I don’t think anyone could have talked me out of it, really. People will assume that I will miss having a Facebook account at some point, but they’re wrong. Quite frankly, no, not at all. Not even in a million light years.

UPDATE: As of November 2016, I caved in, and created a Facebook page solely dedicated for this blog. Honestly, don’t even bother adding my personal profile because I’m not on there all the time.